The difficulties in resolving the obtaining impasse in
Kashmir
arise from a bewildering combination of historical, communal, international, ethnic, geographical and strategic factors. But a counsel of wisdom suggests that these difficulties require
India
and
Pakistan
to cooperate with each other for this purpose and consultation with the local population inhabiting this area. The problem here derives from a definitional conundrum: should the solution be restricted to the
Kashmir
Valley
; to
Jammu
, Ladakh and the
Kashmir
Valley
; or to the
Kashmir
state as it existed before partition? A delimitation of the problem by restricting it to these different geographical areas suggest very different answers.
For instance, greater autonomy for the
Kashmir
Valley
within the body politic of
India
or independence for it outside
India
's confines are conceivable solutions. But these solutions would clearly be wholly impracticable since the
Indian
State
of
Jammu and Kashmir
also includes the predominantly Buddhist region of Ladakh and the majority Hindu area of
Jammu
. Together, their population approximates that of the Muslim dominated
Kashmir
Valley
. And this ethnic divide in the
Jammu and Kashmir
State
is further accentuated due ot the fleeing of the Hindu population estimated around 200,000 from the Valley and other parts of
India
. Enlarging the
Kashmir
problem to Ladakh and
Jammu
would require their establishment as separate administrative and constitutional units like full-fledged States or
Union
Territories
or Autonomous areas which has serious implications for the Indian polity. It could encourage similar demands become more vociferous in various other regions within the country. A further enlargement of the
Kashmir
problem could occur if the solution attempts to include the erstwhile pre-partition, princely state of
Kashmir
. It would then be necessary to include the
Northern territories
, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (Azad Kashmir) and, an issue of greater contention, approximately 2,000 square miles of territory ceded by
Pakistan
to
China
. Including all these areas in
Pakistan
and those in
India
within the ambit of a solution to the
Kashmir
problem would add horrendously to the ethnic dimensions of the problem.
The search for an elusive perfect solution to this problem could only be described as chimeral. It is dubious if the fuller implications of seeking this elusive perfect solution to the
Kashmir
problem are appreciated in
Pakistan
or, for that matter, in
India
. For its part,
India
has considered virtually every possible solution to resolve the impasse ranging from maintaining the status quo in
Kashmir
to independence to merger to greater autonomy to trifuration to depopulation to re-population. None of these propositions could gain acceptance unless all the State political parties and ethnic groups concerned agree to make the necessary compromises. More significantly, the political moment must be right.
Indubitably, both
India
and
Pakistan
have formulated basic national positions on
Kashmir
.
India
's position that the accession issue cannot be questioned is paralleled by
Pakistan
's conviction that a plebiscite should be held to ascertain the wishes of the local population.
Pakistan
's expectation that the Valley could somehow be incorporated into its body politic - the independence option has been rejected by Benazir Bhutto - seems increasingly unlikely to fructify.
India
is hardly likely to relinquish territory which it considers as having been legally acquired, and over which it has invested so much blood and treasure. Equally, the evolution of an independent state comprising the
Kashmir
Valley
could lead to an inter-religious colouration to the problem being given by fundamentalist-nationalist parties, and widespread communal riots being instigated by them. For that matter, the emergence of an independent
Kashmir
state may not leave
Pakistan
's portion of the former
Kashmir
state unaffected: similar movements for autonomy and independence within its confines could lead to a balkanization of this region and turmoil in
Pakistan
.
A counsel of moderation would suggest that the only practicable solution to the
Kashmir
problem would be acceptance of the de facto line of control as the international border and thereby recognize the division of
Kashmir
by according it de jure status. A resolution of the
Kashmir
problem does not seem possible unless these ground realities are understood and wisdom dawns on both
India
and
Pakistan
that no political solution is possible by adopting maximalist positions.
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